The Hand Fate Deals Us
by Gina Trujillo
Summary: Something horrible happens that will change the life of the Freedom Fighters forever, and Tails grapples with feeling of guilt over it.....
1. Chapter 1: The Unthinkable

Ok, basically, I think this story sucks. But it was an idea I came up with years ago and decided to put down now. Read it if you wanna, and please be blunt in reviewing.  
  
~ The Hand Fate Deals Us ~  
  
~  
  
"How could this happen? How could this happen? How could this happen? How could this happen?" He keeps saying this. Over and over again. I can hardly understand him anymore. He's speaking so quietly, his voice is choked with sobs, and the pouring rain beating upon the roof and windows almost drowns out everything.  
  
"I watch Sally step over to the window where he sits. He leans on the sill, arms crossed and his face buried in the folds. She wraps her arms about him and the sound of his weeping grows ever so slightly louder. We all know he's not normally one to sink into self-pity, but we also know he has more than enough reason at this point. I certainly can't blame him.  
  
.there's only one person I blame."  
  
~  
  
Tails sat on the stairs, about halfway up them, and watched the scene unfold. His notebook clutched tightly in one hand and a pencil in the other, he slowly wrote down his thoughts.  
  
Tears formed at the edges of Sally's eyes as she held the weeping hedgehog as tightly as she could. Her whole body trembled, and her grip was weak. Sonic noticed this, his hand drifting to her arm in an attempt to steady it while he, himself, was shaking from the force of sobs.  
  
A great blow had been dealt. to all of them, it seemed, but mostly to Sonic. He kept his head down, not wanting anyone to see his face.  
  
"How could this happen?" He asked one more time, and then fell silent.  
  
"I'm very sorry, Sonic." Sally said in a near whisper.  
  
"It's not your fault." He replied between sharp, sobbing breaths.  
  
~  
  
"He tells Sally it's not her fault when she apologizes. Why does she apologize in the first place? There's only one person here who should apologize for what happened out there."  
  
~  
  
Tears stung his eyes and Tails couldn't see to write straight anymore. He leaned backwards a bit, wiping his face with the back of his hand. The memory of what had happened was still very fresh in his mind, and he hadn't slept well for weeks because of it.  
  
He was the only one who really knew what happened. In a way, he was thankful for this, as it meant that Sonic's mind had blocked it out. In another way, it made him feel very alone.  
  
It all ran through his mind once more. The painful memory that he knew was never going to leave him. He would always have the image in his mind. that image of him hanging there.  
  
It was too painful to remember, and yet he had no choice in he matter. Tails hid his face in his hands, dropping his notebook and pencil on the stairs. Even with eyes closed, the scene played back over and over in his mind.  
  
It had all started out simple enough. Tails had dug up in some old video tapes that had been laying in the back of Rotor's lab for who knows how long. One of the tapes had an old bit of circus footage. There was one scene where some acrobatic dancers would climb huge ribbons hanging from the ceiling. They'd become more and more tangled in these, then would suddenly free fall towards the ground. The way they had been wrapped in the ribbon would keep them from falling to their death, and made them look almost like a living yo-yo.  
  
In spite of Sally's cautioning them against it, Sonic and Tails decided this trick was way too cool to pass up. The very next day, they started figuring out the dynamics of the trick, watching the tape over and over -sometimes in slow motion- until they thought they had it figured out.  
  
Then came the ultimate challenge... the test run. They found some huge tie-down straps that had probably been from a log truck.  
  
"The giant ribbon thing's too prissy." Sonic had said, "It'll cramp my style."  
  
So, in spite of the risk of some major rope burn, the tie-downs were used. Carefully, Tails wrapped the ends of the two straps about his arms and made sure they were snug. Sonic took the other ends, holding on tightly as Tails took off into the sky.  
  
Many of their friends stood close by, watching them test this. Sally was slowly shaking her head all the while. Bunnie seemed to be bubbling with excitement and curiosity as to what the outcome would be. Rotor was pretty confident that it would work, as he'd seen the two pouring over the concept for hours. Antoine was nervous and worried about the whole ordeal.  
  
Slowly, Sonic was lifted off his feet as Tails headed higher up. The hedgehog called up to him, "Doin' alright?"  
  
"Good to go, Sonic!" Tails replied.  
  
Sonic started to climb the straps, wrapping himself in them all the way up, just as they'd seen in the video. Every now and then, he'd pause and call up to Tails.  
  
"Still doin' alright up there, Tails?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"What comes next? I forgot."  
  
"Under your arm again."  
  
"Got'cha."  
  
It wasn't very long before Sonic was almost right next to Tails in the air, totally wrapped in the tie down straps.  
  
"Let's do this!" He said, a crazy glint in his emerald eyes. "Brace yourself, Tails!" And with that, the stretched his arms out straight, letting go of the straps, and started to plummet towards the ground.  
  
Only now did any fear grip Tails. As he watched his best friend fall, he hoped and prayed they'd done it right. Sure enough, things went just as planned. Sonic stopped a few feet above the ground, a little ways about the end of the straps. He was totally still for a second, then twisted to grab one strap as he thrust a triumphant fist in the air.  
  
"That was wild!" He said, his tone showing that he really meant it. Relieved, Tails lowered him to the ground. Sonic stumbled a bit, seeming dizzy. "That was like a Sonic Spin... only... not..." He grabbled with the right words to describe the feeling. "You guys should so try it!"  
  
"I don't think so." Sally said, stepping back a bit.  
  
"Ah will!" Bunnie volunteered. Much to the disappointment of Sonic and Tails, Antoine had a fit over this and ended up convincing her not to do it.  
  
"Fine." Sonic snorted at them all, "I'll do it again! C'mon, Tails! Let's see if you can get me lower to the ground this time! Don't you think it'd make the most way past cool entrance to a fight?"  
  
That was how it all started...  
  
Soon after, another sabotage mission into Robotroplis had been planned. Sonic had been pretty fired up about it, seeing as there hadn't been much action as of late. Plus, he wanted to try out the new move as an entrance into The Eggman's main chamber.  
  
"This'll be better than the time I bungie-jumped through the skylight and scared Robotnik half to death!" Sonic bragged on the way there, kicking his feet slightly. He was already wrapped in the straps and being carried towards the city by Tails.  
  
Tails laughed uncontrollably, the excitement of finally getting to use their new trick building. Still, he felt a bit silly for going through so much trouble just to show off. He also knew, however, that Sonic would go to great lengths to show off, and that this was just a drop in the bucket.  
  
The other freedom fighters were already in position, ready to do what they had to the moment Sonic and Tails caused the distraction.  
  
"There!" Sonic pointed down at a small hovercraft that was zooming along one of the city streets. The large, round body that was sitting in it was unmistakable.  
  
"Ready, Tails?" Sonic asked, glancing up at the fox. The same crazy gleam was in his eyes.  
  
"Let's do this!" Tails replied and took a dive towards the street. They had to calculate this well to land Sonic close to the ground, and yet not run him into the pavement at the same time. Tails watched closely, timing it out in his mind. "Now!" He shouted and Sonic released the strap.  
  
Eggman lifted his gaze at the shout, totally off-guard as he saw a giant blue yo-yo looking thing falling towards him.  
  
Tails watched the straps unwrapping from about Sonic and his mind panicked. He decided the space between him and the ground wasn't enough. Quickly, he pulled up sharply, hoping to keep his best friend from hitting the ground...  
  
Then came the two snap sounds...  
  
Tails shook himself from the memory, quickly lifting his head to Sally and Sonic by the window. The rain was starting to let up now, but it was still streaked over the glass to the point of blurring everything outside beyond recognition.  
  
Slowly, Tails stood, taking up his notebook and pencil again. He wiped away his tears one more time, opened his mouth to speak, hesitated, and then finally managed to whisper, "Sonic?"  
  
Sonic's ear twitched and he turned his head towards the sound of the whisper. His eyes were blood-shot from crying so much, and the look of sadness in them was so intense, Tails had to divert his gaze from them. He looked to the stairs instead, and slowly made his way down them as he spoke.  
  
"I... I've been thinking a lot about what happened... and, well... I feel like..." His words caught in his throat.  
  
"Tails." Sonic said, his voice still choked by tears, "What is it, bro?"  
  
The young fox locked eyes with his friend again. His knees suddenly gave and he sank to the floor in a total breakdown, "I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have pulled up, but I thought you were gonna hit the ground! I should've checked the straps before we went out! I didn't know one was damaged! I didn't mean for this to happen! I'm so sorry! It's all my fault!"  
  
Sally came to his side quickly, kneeling with him and holding him tightly.  
  
"Tails, don't say that." Sonic said, "It's not your fault! You were only tryin' to keep me from bein' sidewalk pizza, and I gotta thank you for that. Plus, I noticed the strap was damaged when I was climbing up it. My spikes 'prolly did it on one of the test runs." Sonic lifted his hands from his lap and put them back over the sides of his chair, grasping the wheel on each side tightly. He gave them a good push and wheeled himself over to where Tails was kneeling. "Don't blame yourself, little bro. What happened happened. No body can change that."  
  
Tails stared up at him through tears, setting a hand on his knee... and knowing he couldn't feel it.  
  
The twin snap sounds Tails had heard after he pulled up were two totally different things. The first had been one of the straps giving way from the pressure... the second had been Sonic's spine breaking.  
  
"It's not your fault." Sonic assured him again, taking Tails' hand in his own. "I'm sorry I've been cryin' about this so much lately. It's just..." Sonic paused and took in a deep breath, changing what he was going to say, "I need to snap out of it now. We can't change the past, Tails, so we shouldn't dwell on it, either. Right now, we've just gotta take the hand that fate's dealt us and go with it, right?"  
  
Tails nodded slowly and half-heartedly.  
  
Sonic wheeled his chair back a bit, as if testing it. He rolled back farther and turned in as sharp a circle as he could, "Besides.. I hear they have wheel chair races, too. I'll bet Uncle Chuck could make some heat resistant wheels for this baby and I'll leave 'em all in the dust!" He gave Sally and Tails a true smile, which he hadn't done in weeks.  
  
Tails smiled back and wiped his eyes again, "Yeah, I guess you can learn to be quick in that thing, too."  
  
"Who knows?" Sonic added, still turning circles, "Maybe I'll even get back into being a freedom fighter, if I figure out enough tricks, eh?"  
  
Sally smiled, "You're always welcome, Sonic."  
  
The hedgehog paused in his circling and looked to Tails again. "Alright, no more blaming yourself! Right now, I stop cryin' about it, and so do you, got it? Good! Now..." He spun the back of the chair to face Tails, "Why don't ya sketch something on the back of this thing? If I'm gonna live in it, it'd gotta look way past cool!"  
  
Tails agreed to this and went to get a pen. He set his notebook down on the table, then paused and wrote some final words, so that he wouldn't forget them.  
  
~  
  
"We can't change the past, so we shouldn't dwell on it. We've just got to take the hand that fate's dealt us and go with it."  
  
~  
  
Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters are © Sega and Archie Comics.  
  
Story © Gina Trujillo, March 15, 2003 


	2. Chapter 2: In the Aftermath

So just randomly, one morning I woke up at 5:00AM for no sodding reason!

After a half-hour of trying to go back to sleep, I gave up and decided to draw. Sadly, I'd left my sketchpad and all my pencils downstairs the night before. Knowing that opening the bedroom door causes a freakin' banshee in the hinges to scream and that the sound would surely wake up my roommate, I gave up that idea. Being as quiet as I could, I found my notebook and, low and behold, a pen!

I regret to say that the pen was dead.

And so, I laid in bed and scratched the crap out of a piece of paper in my notebook with the dead pen. (You can even read all the curse words in it if you look at the page in just the right light!) My thoughts ran freely for the next hour or so, and among the jumbled plans of room cleaning and theater stuff, I came up with some great ideas to continue this story! WEEE! I then promptly fell asleep on my notebook.

…..5:00 in the morning is a much better time to go to sleep at than to wake up at…..

**The Hand Fate Deals Us**

**Chapter 2: In the Aftermath**

_"I remember a time when I loved the sunrise. Some days I would set my alarm so I could wake up and watch the sun come up. I would sometimes go back to bed afterwards, but I'd still bother to get up just to see it._

_What the hell was wrong with me?"_

Tails paused in his writing and rubbed his eyes. He leaned back in his chair and stared at the dimly lit ceiling for a long moment. With a sigh, he leaned forward once again, crossed his arms on the desk, resting his head on them, and continued to write.

_"I've seen the sunrise every morning for five days running. The most sleep I've had in one night was a collective 3-and-a-half hours._

_I dream it. I keep seeing it happen over and over again. Sometimes it's just like it really happened. Sometimes it's different. Last night, it was me on the other end of the trick. Last night, I dreamed **I** was Sonic."_

A single tear slipped onto the paper. They only came in singles now. A tear here, one there….. but he wasn't soaking his pillow with them the way he had been earlier in the week. It wasn't that the pain was any less. It just simply seemed he'd run short on tears.

_"I remember a time when I would have loved to dream from Sonic's point of view. But no more… _

_Why did this have to happen?"_

There came a soft knock on his door. Tails looked up sharply, quickly closing his notebook. "Come in." He choked out in a whispered tone.

Sally slipped inside the room, quietly shutting the door behind herself. "I thought I'd come see how you're doing before I headed off to help Father."

She was going to work. That meant it was well after 7:00 in the morning.

Tails blew his hair out of his face and slumped in the chair.

"You didn't sleep again, did you?" Sally asked with concern.

Tails replied by simply shaking his head back and forth.

"I'd better take you to the doctor today then." Sally said, seating herself on his bed, "Maybe he can help."

"I hope so." Tails murmured, inwardly doubting this.

"Will you be going to Sir Charles' workshop today?" Sally asked hopefully.

"Maybe." Tails replied, "I….. I donno if I'll feel up to it."

Sally made a sympathetic sound, but it wasn't actually any real words, which was odd for her. She stood and walked to his side, embracing him tightly. She then picked up his chin, looking at his face. She pressed her lips tight upon seeing his bloodshot eyes. "You were crying, again, weren't you? Have you been drinking water? You'll get dehydrated."

"Don't." Tails said, trying half-heartedly to shake her off. He knew she was just trying to help and didn't know how else to do so, but he was in no sort of mood lately to have anyone telling him what to do to stay in good health.

Sally loosened her hug, but didn't let go. She sighed quietly. "I'm sorry about all this, Tails."

"Don't say sorry. You don't have to." Tails told her, leaning into her arms then as he accepted the hug, but didn't return it. "You did nothing wrong."

"And neither did you." Sally reminded him.

Tails snorted and half-shrugged. Sally pulled back slightly and picked up his chin again, "Listen to me, I mean it. You did _nothing_ wrong, Tails."

Tails didn't reply. Another single tear fell from his eye. He then shook himself, pulling away from Sally's arms. "You're gonna be late."

Sally couldn't really argue with that fact. She nodded and took a slow step back towards the door. "I'll be back around 2:00 to take you to the doctor. Be sure to drink some water. Alright?"

Tails made a movement that could have been taken as a nod. Very reluctantly, Sally left Tails' house.

The princess moved very slowly as she walked down the street. Her shoulders were slumped and her head bowed. Her boots sent up dust as they dragged along the ground. This was very unlike her to be this way, but no one was blaming her. After all, her beloved was now wheelchair ridden, as he was likely to be the rest of his life, and the boy she called her nephew was slipping farther and farther away into the shadows of his own mind. She knew not how to retrieve him from there.

"Tails." She sighed absentmindedly.

People were staring. She noticed this a lot lately. They sympathetic looks from everyone anywhere she went. It was starting to get to the point of being maddening. Sally forced herself to straighten her back and pick up her chin. This took a great deal of concentration, but she managed. She even forced a small smile, however fake it may have looked.

Tails watched her leave from the window of his tree house. He knew this was hurting her, too. But she was so strong, he thought. Strong to be able to carry on in the face of this sort of situation. Hadn't she realized what this meant? What it meant for her future? For the future of the kingdom? The future of the royal bloodline?

It would die out after this.

Tails knew it would. There was no way Sally was going to leave Sonic. She loved him too much, and leaving him because of this was something she would never do.

Both Tails and Sonic knew of the dreams Sally had for the future. (They'd read her diary when she wasn't looking.) Those dreams had been smashed now. She and Sonic would never have a family together. For that matter, Sonic's dreams were dead now, as well.

Tails shook his head and let his gaze fell to the floor. And what of his own dreams? It seemed hard to remember anything he'd ever fought for at this point. Everything seemed so pointless. The accident had awakened him to just how fragile life was and he almost felt as if it was worthless to try to do anything. All things only ended in tragedy.

He shook himself. He had to occupy his mind before these thoughts overtook him. Kicking aside a carpet of laundry he hadn't bothered to do in weeks, he found his shoes and headed out the door.

Charles Hedgehog tilted back his welding hood and smiled brightly upon seeing the young fox enter his workshop. "Good morning, Tails!"

"It's not." Tails muttered, setting about picking up tools from the floor without even looking at Charles. It had always driven Tails crazy the way the hedgehog was so unorganized. He could see where Sonic got it from.

Charles frowned a bit, setting aside the welder. "You sleep any last night?"

There came the loud _slam_ of tools as the fox threw them into their proper toolboxes. "Do I _look_ like I got any sleep?" Tails growled in annoyance.

Charles cringed slightly, but kept his tone calm as before. "Nope, I guess not." He cleared his throat, "Well, let's get to those blueprints, eh?"

Nearly four hours later…

Tails thew a large, rolled up paper over his shoulder, growling in disgust. None of this was working. There was a major flaw in the plan, but he couldn't figure it out just yet. Maybe if he could sleep, his mind would be more together. But, no.

Charles peeked into the blueprint room; a small office in back of the workshop. Tails didn't seem to notice him as he poured over the blueprints spread out on the table before him.

"It's gettin' to be about lunch time." Charles offered as a hint for him to take a break.

"I'm not hungry." Was the reply as Tails kept his gaze locked on the table.

The hedgehog rubbed his chin in thought. "You said that yesterday, too. And the day before."

"What of it?" Tails grumbled.

"When do you eat, sonny boy?" Charles asked him, leaning on the door jam.

"Dinner." Tails replied.

"That's it?"

"It's all I can hold down anymore." Tails confessed.

"Have you gone to the doctor?"

Tails rolled his eyes, "Sally's gonna make me go today."

"Maybe it'll help you." Charles suggested in a failed attempt to brighten things up.

"Whatever." Tails muttered, sliding from his chair. He started gathering the large papers into rolls, which he tucked under his arm as he spoke, "I'm headin' home. I can't concentrate. I'll try to find the problem later on today, k?"

Charles nodded and stepped aside for the fox to walk past, "Take care."

"Whatever."

_"I hate this. I hate it so much, I can't describe it! I wish I could fix what's wrong with everything…'_

Tails leaned over his notebook as he wrote, glaring at the paper. He felt like he should be crying, but found he didn't have any tears left once more.

_"The doctor says 'don't worry.' What the hell does he know?! He has no idea what I'm going though! None of then do! I know they want to help, but how can anyone understand what it's like to ruin your best friend's life forever? They can't!"_

Tails caught his breath as it turned to sobs. Still no tears, but his body shook all the same. His gaze turned to the clock. It was nearly 9:00, and he knew he was looking at another sleepless night ahead. His eyes moved to a small bottle upon the desk before he put pen to paper again.

"_Odd how they have a pill for everything now. Doctors try to fix you with whatever they can. Placebos. Fakes. Just to mess with your mind. Because they think there's nothing really wrong with you. They think you're making it up or something."_

His handwriting became more scattered and illegible as he ranted on, moving from subject to subject, but ever returning and always leading back to the one truly at hand. His guilt over Sonic.

Lifting his eyes, Tails' gaze moved out the window and his body felt cold as ice. He instantly wished he'd kept to his writing, stayed in his little world and never looked outside of it. But it was too late, and he'd seen what he didn't want to see.

Sonic was outside on the street. From the second story window, Tails could see him very clearly. Sally was with him. It wasn't really the fact that they were there, but what was going on that bothered him.

The wheelchair had fallen over. Sonic had likely taken the turn too fast, and he was lying on his stomach, propped up on his elbows as best he could. Sally was already righting the wheelchair and she quickly helped him back into it.

But there was that moment. One moment that was burned into his mind now and was painful enough that it helped him find where his lost tears had gone to. The image of Sonic lying on the ground helpless was far too much. Sonic had always been the one who knew what he was doing, and was never helpless for any reason.

Until now.

"Because of me." Tails whispered. He crossed his arms over the desk and hid his face, lost in an oblivion of tears.

**Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters are © Sega and Archie Comics. Story © Gina Trujillo, January 20, 2005.**


	3. Chapter 3: Fate has Spoken

I know there's some of you who are not going to be happy with this….. For all it's worth, I don't think chapter 2 came out so hot. I'm rather pleased with this one, though.

So without further ado…..

**The Hand Fate Deals Us**

**Chapter 3: Fate has Spoken**

A pen danced furiously across a paper, having no regard for the time of night.

Shadows on the desk, cast in the lamplight.

Ink trailed across paper, page upon page, moving onward through the notebook.

Torments of the inner hell, told in black and white.

Words upon words, repeated over and over.

The dance of the pen continued on through the night in an exhausted fever.

And then, the ink ran out…..

No answer. Sally let herself into the house. She was used to this. Tails seldom could hear her knocking on the door from all the way upstairs. She didn't say a word as she headed up to the bedroom and knocked lightly on the door there.

Still no answer. She smiled. He must have been asleep. Letting herself in, she stepped over to towards the desk.

There was Tails, slumped over his paper, arms folded on the desk and face hidden. She slipped over to him, glancing at his clock. It was nearly noon, and as much as she hated to wake him, it wasn't good for him to be sleeping on the desk.

"Tails." She whispered. "Tails, wake up, honey. Sonic and I want to know if you want to go for a walk with us."

No answer.

Sally moved closer. She saw that his desk was covered in papers, all sprawled with the same words over and over again.

_"Take the hand that fate's dealt us and go with it, take the hand that fate's dealt us and go with it….."_

"Tails?" She asked, taking his shoulder in her hand and giving him a shake. The rolling chair moved out from under him and he slumped to the floor, something in his hand rolling along to meet with her foot. Shocked, Sally gazed down. She didn't know it, but she screamed.

It was a prescription sleep-pill bottle.

It was empty.

Fate had dealt him a hand.

And he went with it.

****

Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters are © Sega and Archie Comics. Story © Gina Trujillo, January 20, 2005.

**(Yes, I know you hate me.)**


End file.
